Secret Love
by JPMod
Summary: While bathing at the hot-springs with their friends, Naruto and Tenten reflect on their secret relationship. NaruTen. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: All Naruto characters are the copyright of Masashi Kishimoto. I'm just borrowing them to write up a story with no intention of making any money. This is for fun. That's all. :) No copying of my story is allowed. That's stealing if anyone copies my story into his/her own story. Write your own story without taking others' works! (angry glare)

**Before-chapter Author Note: **This NaruTen one-shot was written for a fanfiction challenge presented by Sorceress2000 at DeviantArt. The challenge was to write a one-shot base off the Naruto Manga 541 cover of the Naruto gang bathing at the hot-springs. It can be about the guys, the gals, or both. Even pairings are welcome. So I took on the challenge and came up with this. :)

Oh, Naruto will be slightly OOC in this fic. It's necessary to fit the story. You'll understand once you read it, and why it is sort-of an AU from canon. :)

Story rating: T (for mention of nudity and sexuality)  
Written: July-August 2011

Summary: While bathing at the hot-springs with their friends, Naruto and Tenten reflect on their secret relationship. NaruTen. Oneshot.

* * *

Secret Love  
By JuPMod (aka JPMod)

Throughout the world, it was well-known that each of the shinobi villages was known for particular things - Suna being in the middle of the desert, Kumo for being almost literally in the clouds, Kiri for their famous swords, etc. Konoha was known for their famous Hokage Monument, yet down the earth, they were also known for their hot-springs. None of the other shinobi villages had natural hot-springs, so when a tourist ever visited the Village of the Leafs, the person was most likely to try one of many hot-springs throughout the village.

At one particular hot-spring, a group of 11 teenagers and one very big dog had decided to end their day by bathing together in order to relax. Being ninjas, they rarely ever saw each other, given their missions had some of them out of the village at times. Having this rare opportunity to be together for the day, they had came together to enjoy each other's company.

However, it came at bad timing on their part when they discovered all the **private** hot-springs were booked throughout the village, and this one hot-spring had two private rooms left. The problem was that each room only has a small bath. The four girls would have one bath for themselves with plenty of room in the bath for them. Just the 7 guys and one dog would be cram in the second bath, not making it pleasant for them.

Nevertheless, the guys had no choice, especially when the girls immediately took the offer without their consents. The 7 boys, for a brief moment, wondered whether the girls did this on purpose, knowing how crowed it would be for the 7 young shinobi to use just one small bath.

* * *

"KAMI, NARUTO! GET OUT OF MY PERSONAL SPACE!" yelled Kiba as he pushed a golden-blonde away from him.

"I WOULD IF AKAMARU WAS NOT SO CLOSE TO MY SPACE, KIBA!" shouted back Naruto as he pushed the Inuzuka back.

Meanwhile, Akamaru was paying no heed to the squabbling. The big, white dog was so hot from the water that he was panting in order to keep cool. He was so out of it that the canine was not aware of the black-haired boy pushing down on his head in order to stand upright.

"Naruto-kun! Kiba-san! Stop this unyouthful display! You're splashing water all over the place!" Rock Lee cried out, unaware he was pushing down on Akamaru.

Both Kiba and Naruto stopped at they looked at the taijutsu shinobi.

"What about you?" fired back Naruto. "You're splashing water all over the place!"

"Not to mention you're hurting Akamaru!" added Kiba, pointing at Lee.

Lee immediately saw what he was doing, thus he quickly removed his hand. "Oh! I'm sorry, Akamaru! Are you okay?" The dog barely gave a tiny whine.

On the other side of the small bath, a big, broad Chouji Akimichi was stilling outside the bathtub's edge as he pointed down at a spot between his best friend, Shikamaru Nara, and Shino Aburame. "Can I sit down at this spot?"

A hand, belonging to Neji Hyuuga, came up to stop the Akimichi from proceeding. "No, you can not. It is already crowded in the tub, and adding you will make it more crowded."

"Aw, come on. I'm sure Shikamaru and Shino do not mind," whined Chouji, getting impatient to enter the tub.

Lowering his hand, Neji shook his head. "I do not think Shino-san is conscious to reply." He temporary gestured to the Aburame boy who looked like he was knocked out from the extensive heat. Kami, why was he still wearing his shades?

"How troublesome," muttered Shikamaru, as he laid his head on his crossed arms resting on the tub's wooden rim. "Akamaru looked like he will not last long, so once he leaves; you're welcome to come on in, Chouji."

Kiba looked over at his canine partner. "He's right. Akamaru is already getting too hot. Dogs do not really can handle the heat with so much fur." He reached over Naruto to tap the white dog on the head. "Hey, Akamaru. You better get out now. Rest by the wall." Akamaru nodded slightly before walking out of the tub, his fur dripping water as he left.

Akamaru's owner nudged Naruto. "Move down, Naruto."

"You move there," complained the blond. "It's full of shed fur in that corner now."

Rolling his eyes, the Inuzuka just took a few steps to sit down where Akamaru once was. "Fine. I'm used to this anyway."

Once Shikarmaru moved over a spot, Chouji smiled as he sat down on his best friend's vacant seat. "Thanks, guys!"

"I wonder how the girls are doing," spoke out Naruto.

A snort came out of Kiba's nose. "I say much better than us. It's only four of them, so they do not need to worry about being crowded in a small space."

All the guys, except Shino, nodded in agreement.

* * *

"I wonder how the guys are doing," asked Ino Yamanaka, her long blond hair in a ponytail, which was created by using part of her hair as a tie. Her wicked grin told she was not being serious with the question.

Sitting across Ino in the hot tub, Tenten, her brown hair in twin hair buns, chuckled. "Obvious, they are likely miserable, given how crowded they are in their tub, especially with Akamaru and Chouji taking up space."

"Yep!" chirped Sakura, sitting on the tub's side between Ino and Tenten and facing away from the others with her arms crossed on the tub's rim. "That's why we took the offer!" All three young kunoichi softly laughed, knowing they had gotten one over the boys.

Opposite from Sakura, Hinata Hyuuga simply smiled in amusement. "Ino-san, Sakura-san, Tenten-san… That was mean." Her long black hair with bluish highlights was in a side-ponytail, and like Ino, she had part of her hair used as a hair tie.

Ino waved away Hinata's words, even though she understood the girl was not entirely serious. "Oh, come on, Hinata. It's funny to imagine the boys all jam in a tub of this size," she indicated to their own tub for a size comparison. "Least there is only four of us girls, giving each of us plenty of breathing room."

"Yeah," agreed Sakura as she turned around to face her three female friends, her short pink hair loose and free. "I'm glad we found this last private room to rent, for we can talk without anyone else hearing us. You can not have a private conversation in the public hot-springs outside."

After she sank lower in the soothing hot water, the pinkette sighed. "I needed this. After that last mission, I needed to relax and not get worked over our failure."

Hinata nodded. "Hai. We were so close to locating Sasuke."

Ino sighed, her blue eyes concerned for her best friend. "Are you really okay, Sakura? I know how much we want to see Sasuke-kun be back home."

Sakura gently grinned at her long-time female friend. "I'll be okay, Ino," she replied before her face became a concern one. "What about you? Are you okay?"

It was the platinum blonde's turn to smile reassuringly. "I'm okay. I know Asuma-sensei's death was a big shock to me, Shikamaru, and Chouji, but we'd pulled out okay." Her blue eyes narrowed. "I'm glad Shikamaru and Naruto finished off those two Akatsuki goons. Least I can sleep knowing those two will not harm another person ever again."

Hinata placed her slightly fisted hand on her chin, showing how worry she was. "Yet, there are other Akatsuki members who are very strong." Her violet eyes locked on the green ones of Sakura. "That man in the orange mask…"

"Yeah," agreed Sakura, her eyes downcast. "Naruto have his work cut out for him. We couldn't even hit that man in the orange mask. Our attacks just went right through him. I think the remaining members of the Akatsuki will be more difficult to defeat than the pair that killed Asuma-sensei."

After a couple minutes of silence, Tenten broke it with a reassuring grin. "Well, this is Naruto we're talking about here. Has he ever given up in the face of overwhelming odds? Otherwise, he wouldn't have defeated Neji in the Chuunin Exams."

"Or Gaara-kun," added Hinata, her grin showing her pride in Naruto.

"Or that Akatsuki member, Kakuzu," inserted Ino, her expression showing her gratitude for the blond boy.

"That's Naruto," agreed Sakura with a fond grin. "He will not ever give up." Her face turned into one of determination. "Besides, he has all his friends to back him up. He's not going to be fighting the Akatsuki alone. We'll be helping him."

Ino matched her friend's expression. "You got it, Forehead!"

"Hai!" nodded Hinata, willing to help the boy who she admired for a long time.

"Definitely," said Tenten with purpose, knowing how much she was willing to help the knuckle-headed ninja, who was friend to her.

However, not aware by the other three kunoichi, Tenten was also thinking of Naruto as more than just a friend. It was something she and the whisker-faced boy had kept secret for a long time with only their jounin-sensei, the late-Sandaime Hokage, the Godaime Hokage, Jiraiya, and her father knew. Everyone else were kept in the dark, and it was all for a good reason.

As she sat there, sweat over her body and a small river pouring down the side of her face, the brunette kunoichi recalled the first time she had met Naruto, when he was a first-year Academy student and she was in her second year. The boy had wandered in her father's shinobi-preparation store, looking for a kunai & shuriken starter's kit. She had been manning the front-counter at the time, and since he was greenhorn student, she was willing to help him.

Finding him sort-of cute with those whiskers on his cheeks, Tenten had teased him that he was going to have a hard time ahead of him, stating how much the Academy would be expecting from the students. The boy simply raised an eyebrow and asked whether she was good at weapons. The way he asked made the girl felt like he thought she was inferior, as most boys thought girls were in the art of being a shinobi, so she huffed an affirmative and accused him of thinking she was not good with weapons. She was pleasantly surprised when Naruto displayed shock and told her that was not the case, for he thought girls were as good as boys due to have seeing kunoichi around the village as well as a few ANBU kunoichi. He then next asked her whether she could teach him due that she was good as she stated she was. With an appreciative grin and after a word to her father, the young girl had taken the blond to her backyard where she gave her first lessons to her new friend, who not only was grateful for the tutoring but also was amazed at her skills for her age. With such high spirits and positive attitude in wanting to learn to be a shinobi, Naruto had made Tenten truly wanted to see him every day after school, and having a new friend to teach him, the blond felt the same.

Yet the shocker had come when the Sandaime Hokage mysterious one day visited her home/store during a practice session with Naruto. The elderly leader had been pleased that Naruto, being an orphan living on his own, had made a friend in Tenten, thus he encouraged the boy to learn together with Tenten. However, he stressed that their friendship have to remain a secret, and when asked why, the Third told about the dangers some villagers have against Naruto so it would be best that she was not be seen with the blond in public. She had been quite puzzled over why they have to keep their friendship a secret, but the Sandaime reassured the pair that in due time, they would know.

With her father agreeing with the village's leader, Tenten had accepted it as did for Naruto, for the time being. Besides, the pair had spent almost every day in her backyard and in her home going over his Academy lessons. It was not that hard to keep their friendship a secret with no one around to see them.

"_Kami, I remember that night four years later, when we learned the reason," _thought Tenten at the memories. _"It was quite a shocker alright."_

"Tenten!" nearly shouted Ino, causing the brown-haired girl to snap out of her musings. "You zoned out for a couple of minutes there," the blonde smirked. "Thinking about a certain Hyuuga, eh?"

Tenten rolled her eyes yet smirked back. "No, I'm not thinking about Neji. I told you many times already that I only see him as a friend and teammate. I'm focusing on my career than picking up boys."

Ino mocked huffed. "You're no fun." Her expression returned to her normal grinning self. "Who says you can't do both? It does not hurt to shop around and examine 'the goods'."

Sakura snickered. "That's what you're calling boys these days, Ino Pig? 'The goods'?"

"Of course!" chirped the female Yamanaka. "After all, with what shinobi men are packing, you bet they're 'the goods'." Both girls giggled, while Tenten shook her head amusingly at their antics. "Besides, we all know a certain Hyuuga Heiress has eyes already for one particular blond boy, eh?" Ino turned a devilish expression at Hinata who blushed and grinned a bit.

Pressing her index fingers together, the eldest daughter of the Hyuuga Clan Head couldn't help but to think of her crush being naked. "Naruto-kun."

* * *

"ACHOO!"

"Keep your sneezes away from me, man!" cried out Kiba. "You better not be coming down with a cold."

Naruto sniffed as he rubbed under his nose with a finger. "Well, I can't help it. Someone must be talking about me."

The teenage Inuzuka snorted in amusement. "Who would be talking about you? Obviously, not any of the girls, that's for sure."

Shino, who was now awake, raised an eyebrow upon making eye contact with his teammate. He knew Kiba made up that lie in order to continue keeping Naruto in the dark regarding Hinata's affections for him. Except for the blond Hokage-wannabe, everyone in the entire Konoha 11 plus their jounin teachers knew about the shy Hyuuga loving the naïve boy. Just that they knew it was up to Hinata to tell Naruto about her feelings, and so far, the female heiress has yet to summon the courage to tell him.

Of course, there was also the question regarding Naruto's feelings for Sakura. Despite having his feelings not returned, Naruto persisted in chasing her, while Sakura's feelings still was on the Sasuke Uchiha, who had not ever love her to begin with. Shino lowered his eyebrow and mentally shook his head, for this four-way love square was quite puzzling. As far as he was concern, Naruto should just forget about Sakura and be with Hinata.

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe they're just talking about us guys in general. After all, it was they who made us have no choice but to accept renting this hot spring by accepting the deal."

Kiba again snort, but this time out of agreement. "You're right. They definitely tricked us."

As some of the other boys once more concurred, Naruto was mentally grinning, having caught the slight eye contact between the two Team 8 members. _"Sorry, Kiba, but I definitely know you was referring to Hinata. If it weren't for Ten-chan, I would likely be still in the dark about Hinata's feelings for me. Just sadly, I do not share those same feelings." _

Journeying down Memory Lane, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki recalled when things began to change, and it started after Tenten's graduation.

For three years, Naruto had enjoyed spending time after school with Tenten at her home. He'd learned more with her than he did at the Academy, for least the girl managed to explain things in ways he could understand compared to Iruka-sensei, who did the best he could, Kami, bless him. Just to keep up appearances, Naruto had to play dumb at the Academy, and that did not suit him well due to wanting very much to win one over Sasuke Uchiha. Yet his bun-haired female friend occasionally reminded him to keep his word to the Third Hokage, thus why he sometimes had to fail some tests on purpose.

However, after Tenten had graduated, Naruto rarely saw her. Being busy with training with her team and doing missions, she did not have the time to spend with her blond friend as it used to be. Besides, by the end of the day, she would be very tire due to her jounin-sensei's training, thus she would not be able to train with Naruto during those rare times he did found her home after school. Yet she still could help with his academics, even though Naruto would prefer to train, which was more fun to him.

Given he have to keep his friendship with Tenten a secret, not to mention not being a genin, Naruto couldn't join the his friend's team to train. Tenten's sensei, Gai Maito, would not allow it, despite the man would love to teach someone eager to learn. From what the weapons-loving kunoichi had told him, Gai would definitely love training anyone who displayed the 'Fires of Youth', although the whiskered boy would not want to wear Gai's green spandex body suits. The descriptions of Gai and Rock Lee, one of Gai's two male students, were enough to make Naruto shuddered in fright.

So with Tenten busy being a genin, Naruto had more spare time after school, thus he began to increase his pranks. He had occasionally pulled pranks on people before, but not often due to being at Tenten's home after school. Now his prankster side came out even more, using any skills he learned from Tenten, who was proud her friend could pull off his pranks without getting caught even though she did not approve of him becoming a prankster. Yet as long as he stick with targeting those who deserve it, like those who mysteriously hate him, the brunette girl didn't mind his pranks. Of course, she had warned him that if he ever pulled such pranks on her, she would maim him with her entire weapons arsenal. Naruto obviously knew he would not ever do such a thing to her or anyone he cared deeply, yet her threat was enough to scare him shitless. Kami, that girl could easy frighten people with that menacing expression of hers.

It had been somewhat a lonely year for Naruto with Tenten mostly away from home, especially when her team started doing C-ranks. Yet the blond understood his friend have her duties to perform.

Life for Naruto had turned totally upside-down on the day of his graduation. Unable to perform a simple Bushin, he had failed the graduation test, yet Academy Instructor Mizuki had tricked him to steal the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage by saying it was a make-up test of his skills. In the woods, the blond managed to learn one jutsu from the scroll, Kage Bunshin, before Iruka-sensei found him. Yet Mizuki had appeared, admitting the so-called 'make-up test' was a fake for Naruto to get him the scroll, and unable to contain himself with glee, the traitor mentioned Naruto held the Kyuubi, the most powerful of the nine bijuu.

Such a revelation almost made Naruto snapped, but Iruka-sensei had confessed Naruto was a person, not the demon, and furthermore, the 12-year-old remembered Tenten, knowing well she would accept him. So instead of running, Naruto took Mizuki head-on by producing hundreds of Kage Bunshin, thus the boy defeated the traitor. Iruka-sensei was impressed. So impressed the Academy teacher gave Naruto his hitai-ate, making the boy a graduated genin.

It had been fortunate Tenten was home that night. Despite being somewhat late, he knew he needed someone to talk to, so he woke up Tenten and her father in order to tell his best friend the revelation of him being a Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and how he came to learn about it. The young kunoichi nearly broke down in tears, now knowing the truth regarding what the Hokage meant years ago. So without hesitation, in her pink pajama tank top and pants, she hugged her golden-haired friend, who in turn embraced her as he cried with her. That night was the first time Tenten insisted Naruto sleep in her bed. He had slept in the guest bedroom occasionally, but out of need to comfort one another, he slept in her arms. It had been a night neither would forget.

The next day, by their surprise, Naruto and Tenten were summoned to the Hokage's office. The Third told them he was aware of what Mizuki had reveal to Naruto, who in turn told his best female friend. The elderly leader then told them why he made a law to forbid anyone from speaking that Naruto has the Kyuubi sealed inside him, for it was all in hope to give the blond a normal life as possible. It had not went well, since the adults went around the law and simply forbid their children from being near Naruto, and for this, the kindly old Hokage apologized for the hardships Naruto went through.

Yet to the astonishment of both the Third and Tenten, Naruto simply grinned a bit sadly and said to his pseudo-grandfather that he was forgiven, for least he'd tried to give him a good life. The Sandaime smiled back as Tenten hugged her friend from behind him.

Once he was reassured that Tenten would keep Naruto's secret, the Third had told the whiskered- boy that he was free to tell the secret to anyone he trusted, and with that out of the way, Konoha's leader told Naruto about the benefits of Kage Bunshin, which the boy was glad to demonstrate he could do easily. Yet the bun-haired girl was the first to realize a totally new benefit for Naruto using Kage Bunshin, for it could be use as a training technique to accelerate his learning time thousands of times fold.

The Sandaime watched with amusement as Naruto hugged Tenten and spun her around in delight of his new training technique, yet the elderly leader warned the enthusiastic boy to not go overboard with the training technique, given having too many Kage Bunshin would likely have severe backlash with too much information flooding into his brain. Naruto had said he understood, although that wide grin of his made the bun-haired girl and the old Hokage sweat-drop in slight amusement that the blond was definitely going to learn the hard way anyway.

"Hey! Naruto!" Kiba's voice broke the 16-year-old Jinchuuriki out of his thoughts. "What were you thinking that got you so zoned out? Thinking dirty thoughts about Sakura?" he asked with a tiny lecherous grin. Despite his facial expression, the Inuzuka didn't like that Hinata was so hung up over Naruto who in turn liked Sakura. It was not fair to him, given how much he would like to be Hinata's boyfriend.

Naruto shrugged as he leaned back his head and closed his eyes, while the hot water of the tub soothed his skin. "To be honest, I pretty much gave up on Sakura. It's clear she wants Sasuke, regardless that he is a missing nin."

All the other boys turned their heads toward Naruto in shock. Did their friend just admit he was not interested in Sakura anymore? This was quite a revelation, which one Inuzuka didn't like due that it increased the chances of Hinata snagging Naruto, who didn't really pay much attention to girl anyway. However, one Rock Lee was filled with joy knowing he have one less competitor for his beloved Sakura's affections.

Privately in his head, Naruto was glad he took this chance to finally end the long-time charade that he was interested in Sakura. He had, for a brief time, showed affections for the pinkette back during the first year in the Academy, but the more time he spent with Tenten, the less interested he was in Sakura. Why should he even bother with a girl who showed interest in another guy? Tenten, however, had suggested pretending he was interested in Sakura in order to keep everyone in the dark regarding him studying and training with her after school. The blond didn't like it, but he went along with it for the sake of his best female friend.

Kiba eyed his golden-haired friend curiously. "If you're not interested in Sakura, Naruto, is there a girl you are interested in?" The son of the Inuzuka Matriarch was hoping the answer would not be Hinata.

Shaking his head, Naruto replied. "I think I'll focus on training for the time being. Until Akatsuki is no more, I don't think I have time for any relationships."

All the other boys nodded in agreement. "Mannn," Kiba said, "that sucks being hunted by those S-rank weirdoes. That guy in the orange mask was certainly tough to beat. None of my attacks touched him!"

Shino nodded in agreement with his teammate. "This is why we all have to get stronger. It is not just the matter of Naruto's survival, but also the matter of the safety and freedom of Konoha and the other shinobi villages."

"Yeah," Shikamaru spoke out. "It's troublesome, but after Asuma-sensei's death, we definitely know better not to underestimate any of the Akatsuki."

Chouji bobbed his head once. "We're all training harder these days." His serious expression then morphed into an amused and proud one. "Even Ino is taking her training more seriously than before she was promoted to Chuunin."

The Nara Heir smirked. "Yeah, Ino especially."

* * *

"ACHOO!"

Sakura snickered. "Coming down with a cold, Ino Pig?"

"Ha! You wish, Forehead!" parried back Ino, matching her friend's smirk prior to giving casual dismissing wave of a hand. "It's just likely Shikamaru and Chouji talking about me. They do it all the time. Or…" The bleach blonde suddenly clasped her hands together. "Or maybe it was Sai-kun!"

Tsuande's youngest apprentice frowned and almost rolled her green eyes. "What do you see in him? It's confusing where you stand with boys, Ino. Do you still like Sasuke-kun or have you moved on and want to date Sai?"

Ino smiled somewhat sadly. "I still like Sasuke-kun, yet I can't wait for him, Sakura. I like to explore whether I can find someone to love."

Sakura nodded in understanding, although she still kept frowning. "And you think Sai makes a good boyfriend?"

"Why not?" smirked Ino. "You should see the portrait he drew of me."

"WHAT?" shouted Sakura, amazed at hearing this news. "Since when?"

Snickering, Ino elaborated. "Since before your team went on your last mission. He gave me a beautiful drawing of me. You should stop by my home and see it for yourself, Sakura."

"I don't believe it," said Sakura as she shook her head. "Sai is so socially inept that I just can't see him having a girlfriend, especially one who is high maintenance as you, Ino."

A mild snort escaped the young Yamanaka. "Sakura, I do not require high maintenance as you think. I do not need to be pampered all the time, yet it's nice to once in awhile be treated like that from a boy."

Sighing, Sakura again shook her head and closed her eyes. "Whatever, Ino."

After rolling her eyes at her friend's reply, Ino smirked as she focus on Hinata. "So when are you going to confess to the knucklehead, Hinata. You're not going to win him over waiting, you know. That baka is hung up over Sakura that it will take another girl to make him see there is more to the world than Forehead here."

Ignoring the slight growl from Sakura, the blue-eyed blonde stayed focus on the blushing Hinata. "I… I have yet to find the time to confess, Ino."

Ino sighed. "Well, you better do it. You might never know if some other girl might take him first." The Hyuuga heiress was not pleased on hearing that.

Giving a sympathetic look at her Hyuuga friend, Tenten inwardly was feeling some guilt. _"I will really hate when the day comes for Naruto-kun and I to confess, Hinata, but it is already too late. He's already taken by me." _

It was not hard for the bun-haired weapons expert to recall when she had slowly started to fall for the blond jinchuuriki. It was definitely after that memorable first Chuunin Exam, which had ended with the invasion by Suna and Oto forces.

After the startling revelation that he was a Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, things had returned to normal for Naruto and Tenten. He had pretty much easily accepted it, given there was nothing he could do to alter the fact. A matter of fact, when he had asked the Third if the Kyuubi could be removed, the village leader frowned that it could be done but if the bijuu was removed from the host, the host would die. Let's just say Tenten made it quite firm that she would **not** want to hear from Naruto any ideas of the Kyuubi being extracted from him. The blond had gotten the message, especially given he and the Sandaime saw in her eyes how scare she was for her friend.

Yet, when Naruto had been assigned to a genin team, he was not happy, given he was stuck with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, Sasuke's fangirl. They barely passed the test given by their jounin-sensei, Kakashi Hatake, and it had not been a ball. Furthermore, when he told Tenten, she pointed out how ironic that he had Kakashi for a teacher, given her sensei was Kakashi's so-called 'rival.' It made the two wondered if their teams might end being 'rivals', but they dismissed such a silly notion given Kakashi and Gai's rivalry was not really serious anyway.

Ever since Naruto had been assign to his team, he rarely ever seen Tenten, given both were busy now. They had managed a few spars and training sessions at her home, but most of the time was spent training with their teams. Well… Naruto had pretty much ended up training on his own, given his team done nothing but doing D-rank missions. He had been very jealous that least Tenten's sensei was serious in training his genin team. Kakashi was not even bothering to teach anything. Yet the last Uchiha brought his foot down on the one-eyed jounin upon seeing Naruto's Kage Bunshin Training Technique. The raven-haired boy was not going to allow the so-called 'dead last' to surpass him, seeing the blond already knew tree-climbing and water-walking, not to mention a form of kenjutsu. So the lazy jounin had ended up teaching two of his students in order to 'catch up' with the third, who had gained Hatake's respect for using Kage Bunshin that no one else could do.

So for a month or two, Naruto had to endure taunts and fights with Sasuke. Least the Uchiha's ego took no hits upon knowing the 'dead last' was not great in taijutsu, but Sasuke just was not liking seeing his teammate getting strong so fast. It was a major blow to his pride.

Naruto however had made sure Sasuke did **not** found about his training sessions with Tenten. Even though the whiskered boy knew his best friend could handle Sasuke, he was not going to allow the Uchiha to come near Tenten unless he couldn't help it. The weapons-wielding kunoichi had rest assured that the Uchiha would find out the hard way if the boy even tried to harass her.

Things had started to change for Naruto after his mission to Wave Country, which had almost turned into a disaster, going from C-rank to A-rank. Tenten was once again her friend's sounding board the moment he had returned to the village. She had been astonished Team 7 barely made it through alive, especially with a S-rank missing nin from Kiri. Yet the mission had turned personal for Naruto upon befriending Haku, who later died on the bridge.

Despite the tragedy, Tenten had been pleased Naruto had found his nindo at the end of the mission. It was a nindo she firmly approved, making her respect her friend even more. After all, when a man kept his word, he was man you could trust, and even though she trusted Naruto before the mission to Wave, she was even more trusting of the blond than ever before. It was at this moment her heart formed a special spot for the Hokage-wannabe.

Naruto and Tenten's lives however were going to be changing again, when everyone would learn the secret of their friendship during the Chuunin Exams. It was impossible for their teams not to run into each other, especially during the first exam at the Academy. Yet Naruto had a good cover story that he knew of Tenten and vice-versa, since he had gone to her family's store for ninja supplies. It was easily bought by everyone, except Sasuke who confronted them days later after the preliminaries at the end of the second exam, which had taken place in the Forest of Death.

Tenten had not been pleased the Uchiha had the gull to demand she train him in kenjutsu. He had not asked, he **demanded**, and such an attitude was not wanted only by the bun-haired kunoichi, but also her father, who clearly told the young Uchiha to leave his store and not ever come back. The raven-haired boy had left in anger, but not before telling Naruto he was going to beat him in the Third Exam. Naruto knew Sasuke was not kidding, given the tone of voice used.

Naruto later in the same day learned Kakashi was going to solely focus on Sasuke during the month to prepare the boy for his Third Exam fight with Gaara, a very strong genin from Suna. Being shafted by his jounin-sensei did not make the blond's day, especially upon almost ending up with an arrogant substitute teacher in Ebisu. He was lucky to come across Jiraiya at the local hot springs, and after some persuasion, the Legendary Sannin had agreed to train Naruto for the month, much to Tenten's surprise.

She highly respect Jiraiya and Tsuande as the strongest fighters in the village, not counting Orochimaru, given he had betrayed the village. However, once Tenten had learned of Jiraiya being a pervert, she had a different tune for the man. She still respected him for being a strong fighter, but as a man, she did not like him at all. The young girl had made it clear to her friend not to ever become a pervert like Jiraiya or **else**. Naruto had kept his word from that day forward.

Sadly for Tenten, she had lost in the preliminaries to Temari, a kunoichi from Suna, thus she had felt left out, and despite she too wanted to help Naruto, she had agreed to help Neji, her teammate and the person who Naruto was going to fight in the Third Exam. It had almost made her cry to hear the blond jinchuuriki told her it was okay with him that she was going to help Neji, for he understood her position. In thanks for him understanding, she had kissed him on the cheek, which the girl giggled in amusement to watch the boy blushed heavily for the gesture.

So a month passed, and the Chuunin Exam Finals came. Tenten had been pleased to see Naruto standing with the others in the arena, yet she was troubled when the fight with Neji began. Her teammate was no fool, and it would take a lot more to beat the Hyuuga genius than Naruto had done to beat Kiba in the preliminaries. Yet Naruto's reputation as Konoha's Most Unpredictable Ninja came through, for at the end, he had managed to beat Neji. Even though she should have cheered for Neji, Tenten cheered for her best friend, happy he had won.

Just too bad she had been caught up in the genjutsu along with most of the stadium's audience. Tenten had missed the entire Suna/Oto Invasion, for she would have wanted to do her share to help. Instead, she had slept like a log, missing out in Naruto's A-rank mission that ended up with him fighting and defeating Gaara, not mention many other things, as the Third Hokage's death which she was informed by Gai-sensei after she had been 'awaken'.

Kami, she was the one who informed Naruto of the Third's death, after he told her of his victory over Gaara, when she had visited her blond friend in the hospital. It had pained Tenten to see those beautiful blues dimmed, thus she did what any friend would do, for she held him as he cried for the lost of a man who had been much like a grandfather to him.

So the entire village had mourned the lost of the Sandaime. The funeral had been a somber affair with the rain mixing well with everyone's feelings. Tenten had very much wanted to stand by Naruto's side, but that would have aroused questions from their peers. Instead, she stood off one side behind him. Her spirits had risen a bit upon overhearing Iruka-sensei's talk with Naruto, so when it was over, the sun came out, making her walk home more warmer than it was before the funeral. She had not been surprised that Naruto arrived at her place minutes later, where they hugged and talked for a while before he departed for his apartment. Yet, what was surprising to her was prior to leaving the blond gave a kiss on her cheek with a warm thankful grin that lit up those soulful sapphires of his.

"Tenten! Wake-up!" shouted Ino as she waved a hand in front of the sweaty bun-haired kunoichi, who snapped out of her reverie and returned to the present in the hot springs. "Kami, Tenten, you're really deep in thought."

Team Gai's sole female member simply shrugged with a small grin. "Well, this is very relaxing hot tub we're in. You can easily fall asleep in it."

"Very true," replied Sakura. "You can end up with your mind wandering being this relax." Mentally, Tenten was thankful for the pinkette's support, for she didn't have to explain about her thoughts on Naruto.

Ino sighed as she nodded in agreement, sinking lower into the waters. "No argument from me on that. I feel like spending all day in here, although that would result in me having wrinkly hands and feet. No thank you."

Sakura snickered. "Afraid of growing old, Piggy?"

Light blues locked on equally challengingly greens. "Not me, Forehead. I'm planning to grow old gracefully." She smirked evilly. "Unlike me, you'll likely have your first wrinkles by the time you're 25 years old."

"You wish," scoffed Tsuande's student.

As Hinata and Tenten watched the heated exchange with amusement, Konoha's Weapons Mistress once more was thinking of a certain blue-eyed, blond boy.

* * *

"How troublesome," groaned Shikamaru as he eyed disapprovingly at the smirking Kiba. "We do not need detail descriptions of the girls' **assets**, Kiba."

Kiba shrugged, still smirking. "So, you brought up Ino, so I thought it would be great to mention how much she really **approved** over the years as a girl. Naruto might not want a relationship, but if I have a chance, I wouldn't mind having one now.

"Now Hinata really have grown into a gorgeous beauty." The Inuzuka eyed his Abruhama teammate. "Right, Shino? She certainly no longer the girl she was at 13."

Shino nodded once in acknowledgment. "She has changed and improved significantly since Team 8 was formed. Of course, so have we all."

"Yeah, she certainly have changed a lot," Kiba continued. "I noticed she has been getting more stares and glances from the guys of the village."

Shikamaru let out a yawn. "Why don't we cut the chase? You want to date her, Kiba."

The Inuzuka shrugged. "Yeah, I certainly don't mind dating her." He was not going to say anything regarding Hinata wanting Naruto though. "What about you and Temari?" This caused an eyebrow to rise up on the Nara's face. "Every time she comes here, as Suna's liaison to Konoha, she always asks for you to be her escort."

"That's because out of everyone in Konoha, she knows me better," frowned Shikamaru. "She asks for me due that she is comfortable with me."

Kiba snickered. "Yeah, she definitely is **comfortable** with you." A few chuckles emanated around the tub as Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the dog handler. "You could have easily just refused to be her escort."

A sigh escaped the Naru heir's mouth. "That would be more troublesome than escorting her. She would complain, causing Gaara to complain to Tsunade-sama, who in turn would chew me out. No, thank you. It's less troublesome to just be her escort."

Once more Kiba snickered. "Whatever you say, Mr. Romance. Never mind all the times you are seen with her eating together at some restaurant." Again chuckles were heard around the hot tub as Shikarmaru sighed again.

As he continued to follow his friends' conversations, Naruto's thoughts were only on **one** girl in particular. _"Yeah, we all have changed," _he mentally said, echoing Shino's comment. _"Yet Ten-chan is the most beautiful out of all the girls to me. She may not have Hinata or Ino's beauty or Sakura exoticness, but Ten-chan have a strength and inner beauty I admired for a long time. Besides, she has a cute physical beauty that has its own attractiveness. Kami, no wonder I fell for her."_

It was easy for the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki to remember when his feelings for Tenten had evolved, and it was that day of Sandaime's funeral. From that point onward, he just couldn't think of any girl other than Ten-chan. Not that he totally didn't thought of other girls, given he had to interact with many of them every day, just when it came to thinking of a girl as a possible girlfriend, he just did not want any girl other than Tenten.

When he had went with Jiraiya to locate and bring back Tsunade, in order for her to be the Godaime Hokage, Naruto just couldn't help but to think of Tenten, who had been extremely disappointed that she couldn't go with them. Just that all genin, with the exception of Naruto, were ordered to help to pitch in the village's rebuilding. She really had wanted to meet Tsunade, her idol and kunoichi role model, yet at least the weapons-loving girl had accepted Naruto's point that she would meet Tsunade when the Slug Sannin returned to Konoha. Ero-sennin had teased his blond pupil throughout the mission regarding missing his bun-haired 'girlfriend', making the young boy blushed, given the fact that the thought of Tenten being his girlfriend was not a bad idea to him.

Then the whole 'mission' had gone toppy-curvy crazy, starting with two members of the Akatsuki finding Naruto, who had to watch as Sasuke had arrived and rendered knocked out by his older brother. Thank Kami, Ero-sennin had been there to chase off the two nuke nins.

They then found Tsunade and her apprentice Shizune, but only to hear the hag insult the Hokages, which didn't suit Naruto well. This lead to the challenge the Slug Princess gave Naruto – To master the Rasengan, a technique Jiraiya was teaching him, in one week. Of course, they found out a week later that the female sannin had made a deal with Orochimaru, only to found Tsunade had backtracked out of the deal. This lead to a battle, where the blond jinchuuriki finally mastered the Rasengan to take out Kabuto, an Oto spy, only for said blond to become unconscious and missed out on the ultimate battle of Tsunade and Jiraiya fighting Orochimaru. The poor genin had groaned upon being told the story day later when he awakened, but he was pleased he gained the First Hokage's famous necklace.

Upon returning to Konoha, Tenten had been thrilled to hear the whole story and had been more thrilled to witness Tsuande's coronation ceremony with Naruto watching not far off. The whiskered boy had felt the entire trip was worth it upon seeing so much joy on his best friend's face.

Yet to wish for a good period of peace was wishful thinking, when Sasuke had left Konoha to join Orochimaru. All because of his jealously over Naruto's skill improvements. That so-called 'retrieval' mission, led by Shikamaru, had not gone well. Neji and Chouji's lives had been close to be taken by the Death God, Kiba had been vastly injured, and Rock Lee, who had came later, nearly was overwhelmed. If it had not been for the Suna Team of Gaara, Kankorou, and Temari, it would have been likely the entire retrieval team would have been killed, except for Naruto who barely survived his fight with Sasuke at the Valley of the End.

As he laid in his hospital bed for a few days, it had given the blond shinobi plenty of time to think, making him wonder whether the world was changing too fast for his tastes. It had been ironic that in a matter of less than a year so many things had happened, from knowing he was a jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi to Sasuke turning traitor by joining Orochimaru. His whole world was turning upside down, and it making his head spin.

Lucky for him, he have a good foundation of friends as support, especially in Tenten, who managed somehow to visit him in the hospital when no one else was around. She had been a great sounding board for him when he told her about the entire mission. It was during her second visit that he confessed to her that he really liked her, and out of his surprise, the brunette grinned and said, "I like you too, Naruto-kun" prior to kissing him on the lips. It had taken a minute before he returned the kiss with equal feelings.

So despite all the bad things that had happened, Naruto was happy that his relationship with Tenten had taken another step further, especially after their kiss, which had been their first real kiss with anyone, not counting that 'accidental' kiss Naruto had with Sasuke. With the threat of Akatsuki still out there, they'd agreed to keep their relationship a secret, which meant Naruto still had to pretend he was interested in Sakura. It was a sort-of a weird way to have a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, but as long as they have their hearts on each other, it really had not matter to Naruto and Tenten at all.

As he sat in the hot tub listening to his male friends, Naruto inwardly smiled and wondered if his girlfriend was thinking the same things as he was.

* * *

"_(giggle) Our first kiss was really something. He was so wide-eyed at first when I'd kissed him, but least he took up the invitation I was offering. It was a good thing that his kisses became better with practice. He certainly knows how to kiss a girl well now,"_ she finished with a fond mental smile on how she nearly swoon from the last kiss she had with her boyfriend, which had occurred just yesterday at her family store and home.

As Tenten sat in the hot tub, listening to her female friends talk, especially Ino over boys, movies, etc., Konoha's Weapons Mistress recalled the period of a few months from just after the Sasuke Retrieval mission to before Naruto had left the village on his training trip with Jiraiya-sama. With Team 7 no more, Naruto had been assigned to work with various people of his age group, including Team Gai. It was a time that Tenten came to enjoy working with her new boyfriend, allowing them to train together in public without anyone knowing of their new relationship.

The first ever mission Naruto had with Tenten's team was when he had been assigned to accompany Neji and Tenten to retrieve some weapons from a Konoha weapons-smith named Iou. It was shortly after Naruto had been released from the hospital after the Sasuke Retrieval mission, and since Tsunade had to double-check to make certain Lee did not have any bad affects from his surgery, the blond Hokage-wannabe was selected by Gai to temporary replace Lee during this mission.

The young weapons mistress had been so high into the fact that she was 'captain' during this mission that she had became angry when her boyfriend would not call her by the rank. He had simply called her by name, but he least did respect her decisions as well as her skills, especially after defeating the two rogue ninjas who were after Iou's advance weapons. Just too bad the elderly weapons maker would not give her Jidanda after showing how well she could use it.

The next mission Naruto had been assigned with Team Gai was to the mining village when a few miners reported regarding a rogue ninja and his band were burying people alive. Lee had been clear for active duty to rejoin his team. Yet despite the addition of Lee, the mission almost ended badly for them all, given they found out they were fighting one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Luckily, everything ended well, even though the nuke-nin died by his own hands in the end.

One thing, Naruto and Tenten had learned from the mission was that they had vowed to not ever eat spicy curry in their meals. It had amazed them that Lee could handle such foods, making them wonder if the taijutsu specialist literally have an iron stomach.

However, Naruto's third mission with Tenten and Neji had a moment that she thought he had died, and that was the mission to Bird Country.

Investigating the story of the Cursed Warrior, Naruto, Tenten, and Neji had been dispatched to Bird Country alongside the Bird Country's daimyo's best friend. There they had found an intriguing deception by rogue ninjas to take over the nation by the leader disguising as one of the daimyo's trusted advisors. Not only that, the trio of genin had also discovered the male daimyo was really the supposed-dead twin sister of the daimyo. It was the brother who died, and in seeking the truth whether another advisor killed her brother and father, the sister had taken the identity of her brother and donned the costume of the Cursed Warrior to cover her tracks as she investigated personally her advisors. By the end, the rogue ninjas had been defeated, and the sister had revealed her true identity to her people to take over the role as daimyo.

Yet Tenten had been scared to learn that Naruto had been caught sneaking into the daimyo's palace when he, by himself, had discovered an underground passage to the palace. Neji and her had been ordered to leave the country, leaving Naruto behind to be executed. It had not sat well with her to know her boyfriend was going to be killed, but with the help of Kakashi-sensei, who had arrived after Naruto's capture, they had managed to sneak back into the country. It was a great relief to find Naruto playing the Cursed Warrior as a feint to help the sister, but having been so scared and worried for him, Tenten had slapped Naruto out of anger for the deception. Neji, who had witnessed the slap, was none the wiser to their secret relationship, but the blond jinchuuriki knew his girlfriend well to know the real reason why she had slapped him.

After they had returned home from that mission, Naruto and Tenten had a long talk regarding the realities of being a shinobi. Naruto had seen death on the Wave mission, and Tenten had also witnessed killing on a mission. Yet the Bird mission had driven home the fact the heartbreak if someone you love were to die, it would be a totally different experience and feeling. The bun-haired kunoichi had lost her mother when she was a year old, yet having been so young; she had no real emotional connection to feel the lost. Naruto had no family at all, so despite having lost his grandfather figure in the Third Hokage, the boy had not cried or mourn like an actual family member would. However, if Tenten or Naruto would die, the other would definitely feel the pain.

Was this love? Tenten knew she cared deeply for her best friend of nearly five years, and it was clear he felt the same toward her. Having had her heart in her throat, thinking Naruto would be executed, was an experience she had not felt before, and when she told her father, he gently smiled and said that if the person you loved was constantly in your mind and heart and knowing that person's death would bring great sadness to you, it was clear you love that person.

So having made up her mind how much she loved the blond, she'd decided to give him a gift, knowing he was going to leave the village with Master Jiraiya for more than 2 years. Tenten had given her virginity to Naruto, who also was a virgin.

So in his apartment one day, the two teenagers had explored the sexual frontier for the first time. It had been at first an awkward affair, given neither knew precisely what to do despite having read books and manuals regarding sex. Yet with time and further discoveries, they each found out what it took to drive one another mad with lust and passion. By the time they were exhausted near midnight, the brunette kunoichi and blond shinobi had gained experience to almost be considered borderline experts in lovemaking. One thing they had learned that sex was very pleasurable when done right and with someone special, yet each also found that it could be quite addicted so if they were not careful, they would eventually expose their secret relationship.

It was a gift either would not ever forget. So despite they only had one day and night together, it was enough for them to last the time they would be spent apart. Naruto had promised that he would not ever make love with another girl, and knowing how devoted he was to keeping his word, his nindo, Tenten knew he meant it, thus making her heart fluttered stronger for him.

Returning to the present as Tenten realized Ino was now teasing Hinata relentlessly, the Weapons Mistress of Konoha mentally smiled knowing that even being away for nearly three years, her boyfriend was highly devoted to her. With that kind of loyalty, she would be the biggest fool of a woman to give up a man like that.

* * *

"What? Me and Ino?" blinked Chouji as he pointed to himself prior to softly chuckling. "Come on, Kiba! Stop pulling my tail!"

Kiba snickered. "Yeah, you're right about that. I was pulling your tail. Knowing Ino, she's high maintenance."

Shikamaru smirked. "That's where you're wrong, Kiba. She may act like she's a high maintenance girl, especially when we were in the Academy, yet ever since she had learned Sakura was going to be Tsunade-sama's apprentice, Ino had taken her training seriously. Chouji may have not noticed it, but I have seen that since Ino taken her training seriously, she has mellow down. I think Chouji would be suited for her."

The broad Akimichi blinked in astonishment at his best friend's words. "You're serious, Shikamaru? Me and Ino?"

The still-smirking Nara turned to face his friend and nodded. "I'm not saying it may happen. Yet given how well you treated her with respect, she came to like that."

Chouji raised an eyebrow. "I thought she now likes Sai."

Turning his head to face forward again, Shikamaru let out a breath. "Well, she have not totally given up falling for guys on looks alone, but I think if she wants a guy who can respect her as a person, it would be you. Sai may eventually turn Ino off with how social inept he is."

Kiba snorted in amusement. "Well, that remains to be seen, eh?"

As the Nara heir nodded in agreement, his Akimichi friend was blushing slightly at the thought of being Ino's boyfriend. He had not ever consider his female teammate, given how bossy she was when they were younger, not to mention her swooning over Sasuke and now Sai. Yet Shikamaru was right that Ino had mellow over the years, especially after realizing she has to really train in order to be strong, not to mention having a shapely body, tight ass, beautiful eyes… Chouji immediately placed a hand over his nose to prevent himself from bleeding out of it as he vanquished any explicit pictures of Ino from his head.

After snickering from seeing Chouji almost bled out of his nose, no doubt to thinking dirty thoughts of a certain blonde Yamanaka, Kiba raised a finger. "Well, it seems I'll take Hinata. Chouji can have Ino, if she looses interest in Sai." His smirk turned into a distasteful frown. "Sakura still wants the Uchiha."

"No!" cried out Lee as he suddenly stood up, causing his towel to fall off him. "I will not allow it! I will win my beloved Sakura-san's heart!" he said with conviction and eyes blazing with fire.

"Okay, okay!" called out Kiba, turning his head away. "She's yours! Now sit down!" He and the other boys, san Shino, breathed a sigh of relief when the taijutsu master sat down. Only then did the Inuzuka teen turned a smirk on the longhaired Nara. "Of course, Shikamaru here have Temari."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "How troublesome." Upon hearing Kiba snickered, the 'lazy' chuunin knew it was best to not saying more. It would only fuel the other boy's ego more.

His amusement dying off, the dog handler turned toward Neji. "That leaves Tenten. Given Lee is interested in Sakura, that meant Tenten is free for you."

The Hyuuga Genius shook his head in the negative. "She's not interested in a relationship," he said, causing some of the other boys to blink in surprise. "Tenten is mostly focus on her career, for she said she will have time for a relationship when she is older."

Kiba frowned and smirked at the same time. "Bummer to be you, if you're interested in her."

Neji simply shook his head again. "I will not ever force her. When she is ready and chooses me, I'll be there."

Naruto mentally chuckled. _"That is if she has already been taken, my friend. Ten-chan and I definitely will be causing many eyes to go wide once we reveal our secret relationship" _His mental smile turned into a frown._ "Kami, Hinata definitely is going get hurt. It's a good thing Ten-chan told me about her crush on me, or else I wouldn't have figured it out on my own."_

Remembering the time, Naruto had been told about Hinata's crush during that special day and night he and Tenten had lost their virginities to one another. During a respite from the lovemaking in order to chow down dinner, the weapons-loving kunoichi had told her blond lover about Hinata. It had been a surprise to him, but it had pretty much explained the Hyuuga girl's behavior whenever she was around him. Still, Hinata would eventually one day tell him about her feelings thus providing Naruto with an emotional predicament, given he knew he would have to break her heart. Yet given how shy the girl was, it would be quite awhile before that day would come.

Yet the day had come for him to leave Konoha, thus it had been a teary good-bye for Naruto and Tenten. He had promised to write occasionally through Toad messenger, and if Tenten wanted it, she could write back, although she had to be quick within a few hours for the toad to return to the last location of Jiraiya and Naruto.

So for more than two years, Tenten and Naruto had written to one another as he traveled with his Sannin teacher, learning many things along the way. The whiskered jinchuuriki had been happy to have read one day that his girlfriend had gotten promoted, although he was a tad jealous, especially after learning his entire peer group had jumped ahead without him. On another day, the bun-haired girl had been livid upon reading that her boyfriend had lost control of himself to the Kyuubi on an attempt to control the fox's powers, thus why she had immediately written a very harsh letter for him **not** to dare make such attempts again. The letter exchanges had been a source of comfort yet it was also a constant reminder that they were physically apart from one another.

However, the more they write, the more each felt missing the other. The famous slogan of "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" was quite true here, for by the time Naruto had returned to Konoha two and a half years later, he had pretty much knew how much he loved Tenten and vice versa with her toward him.

It had been disappointed to them that their first meeting, in two years, had happened on the Gaara Retrieval mission, given Team Gai had been away when Naruto had returned to Konoha. Yet after the mission at her home, they had shown how much they had missed one another when they had wrapped their arms around one another and kissed each other as long as they could. Only the next night at his apartment did they make love, which their passion had shown how long they had been holding it in.

Since then, Naruto and Tenten had presumed their secret relationship among the growing threat regarding Akatsuki and other missions. Naruto had grown very strong under Jiraiya's tutorship, thanks to the Kage Bunshin Training Technique, so it came to hardly a surprise to his peers, who all had been told about Naruto's secret of him being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi when Tsunade, while Naruto was away, had lifted the information ban and told the entire village. It had been a shock to most of them, but Naruto's friends had not abandoned him, thus the blond had been grateful.

One thing that Tenten had noticed, after Naruto came home, was her boyfriend had slowly had gained more female attention than he ever had prior to his training trip with Jiraiya. The mission to help Demon Country had that country's high priestess falling for the blonde. Then there was the Sky Country incident, where some redhead girl became attached to Naruto. Sakura too had shown some signs she was interested in Naruto, despite the pinkette kept saying she still had feelings for Sasuke, not to mention there was still Hinata. For the first time ever, Konoha's Weapons Mistress had to make sure her lover was not going to stray from her, despite the fact Naruto had not ever crossed the line due to keeping his promise.

Mentally chuckling at the memories of the times Tenten was jealous and became quite territorial, Naruto once more focused on the conversations of his male friends. As much as he understood why they had needed to keep their relationship a secret, it had been frustrating at times for him and Tenten. With the exception of Kakashi, Gai, Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya, Tenten's father, and the Ichiraku's, no one knew they were a couple.

_"I'll be glad this whole Akatsuki business be over with. Once they're gone, Ten-chan and I will finally reveal our relationship as we agreed. We like to go out together and be a real couple. It will be nice to hang out without hiding our true feelings."_

* * *

"ACHOO!"

Ino shook her head in amusement. "I swear, Tenten, you have to be quite popular to be sneezing at this rate. That or you really are coming down with a cold."

Tenten waved off her blonde friend's comments. "Nah, I'm not that popular." _"Naruto-kun, will you stop thinking about me, you loving idiot!"_

Giving a small grin, Konoha's Weapons Mistress continued speaking, her eyes on her blonde and pink haired friends. "Since you two are so adamant in talking about men, especially about sex, I'm surprise none of you thought about Naruto."

This caused three pairs of female eyes to blinked in surprise and bafflement. "What about Naruto?" Sakura asked.

The brunette kunoichi shrugged. "It's nothing that any of you could had figured out. He does have amazing stamina in battle. Can you imagine him using that same stamina while having sex?"

Almost nearly laughing, Tenten saw all three of her friends' eyes bugged out, realizing what she was referring. It was time to pull out the trump card. "Not to mention he can make **dozens **of Kage Bunshin."

Once more the wily female member of Team Gai watched in amusement as each of the other three kunoichi reacted to the mental pictures they were having. Sakura was blushing red as she placed a hand on her nose to prevent any bleeding. Ino was also blushing, yet she held a hand over her heart while not sporting any nosebleed. Hinata's face however was bright red, as she did not stop the tiny drops of blood from coming out of both nostrils.

"N-N-Naruto-kun…" the Hyuuga Princess managed to say softly before her silver/purplish eyes rolled upward.

"HINATA!" shouted Sakura, Ino, and Tenten as the lateral two kunoichi quickly rushed to grabbed their unconscious friend's arms to prevent her from sinking into the water and drowning.

The only daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka chuckled. "Kami, Hinata, you really got it bad for Naruto alright." Her amused light blues focused on the brown ones of the other girl. "Thanks a lot, Tenten. I don't think I can see Naruto the same way ever again."

"Same here," admitted the sole pinkette. "He's my teammate, thus I have to do missions with him."

Tenten giggled a bit sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I thought it would be quite obvious to you."

Inwardly however, the bun-haired girl was not sorry she mentioned it. She had personally experienced first-hand her boyfriend's incredible stamina in the sack, not to mention the two times he gangbanged her. With those attributes, Tenten would not ever have a sex session ended up with her not being satisfied, not to mention pleasurably sore.

_"I definitely have to put out the 'invitation' kunai on my window sill tonight. I so badly need a good fuck by my stamina-freak boyfriend,"_ Tenten mentally said as she and Ino helped keep the still-unconscious Hinata sitting upright while the Hyuuga kept mumbling a certain blond man's name.

* * *

"ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!"

"That does it!" yelled Kiba as he pointed to Naruto. "You definitely should see Tsunade-sama for a check-up for diseases!"

Naruto growled back. "Put a sock in it! I'm not catching a cold! I also didn't sneeze on you!" He narrowed his blue eyes on the Inuzuka. "You don't mind getting real dirty, yet you're afraid when someone sneezes."

Shino nodded. "He does have a point."

"Shut up!" Kiba snarled, as he crossed his arms, not liking being cornered like this.

After snickering at his friend's behalf, Naruto settled down, his mind once more on certain brunette kunoichi he loved. _"I have to see tonight whether Ten-chan will leave her 'inviation' kunai out. I'm going to fuck her silly, until she is seeing stars for constant talking about me. Kami, I just love that she loves me doing that to her. It's a good thing we place up privacy seals in her bedroom and my apartment."_

One of things the couple did upon him returning to the village was to set up the privacy seals. Knowing how passionate they were when it came to their lovemaking, it was best that no one **hear** them, especially Tenten's father whenever Naruto sneaked into her bedroom through the second-story window. Her dad had given 'hints' that he knew what was going on between them, but he had not bothered them, for perhaps he knew it was best to let the young couple be, knowing he had been young once.

_"I wonder if Ten-chan don't mind posing in my jacket again. Kami, she made my nose bleed,"_ Naruto mentally smirked, remember the last lovemaking session in his apartment where Tenten had came out of his bathroom wearing nothing but his orange/black jacket and pink, g-string panties. As he sat on his bed in nothing but his boxers, the minx, cleavage showing, had crawled onto his bed on hands and knees and displayed her sexy butt to his viewing pleasure. She had winked slyly over her shoulder at him, causing the blond to gawk with a grin and one bleeding nostril. From that point onward, it had became a sensual game between them that when they finally did engaged in intercourse, they were so aroused that it had not taken them long to reach climax together.

_"Yep, I definitely looking forward to making her see stars tonight. That minx!"_ he mentally smirked, knowing in advance what he was going to do to his girlfriend that would make her scream in ecstasy.

* * *

So the newest generation of Konoha shinobi continued their evening, enjoying the hot springs, unaware that two of them were secretly in a relationship under their noses. The young couple knew it was a matter of security and safety, but despite this, Naruto and Tenten pressed on their relationship the best they could. Each loved the other, and as long as their hearts were strong and faithful toward one another, they knew their love would keep them connected for a long a time to come, no matter what the world threw at them.

The End

* * *

A/Ns:

1) First off, I want to say that this fic takes place after Sasuke fought Itachi but before Naruto was told about Jiraiya's death. It made sense that least a few days had past after Naruto came back home prior to him and Konoha being told about Jiraiya's death. I figured this would be a perfect place in the canon timeline for this fic's events to take place.

2) If you have not figure out what I was referring regarding Naruto being slightly OOC, I was referring to Naruto holding the secret of his and Tenten's friendship ever since he was in the Academy. Canon-Naruto IMO wouldn't care about the risk of the 'enemy' using his friends against him. Yet Naruto and Tenten were in the Academy, so any enemy shinobi can easily defeat them. As mentioned, Naruto and Tenten wanted to make certain they can defend themselves against any 'bad guys' before they will feel safe enough to come clean to their friends about their relationship.

Also please, do not tell me that it would be hard for Naruto and Tenten to hide their intimate relationship from everyone, sans those who suppose to know, like their jounin teachers, Tsunade, and Tenten's father. If they act like friends around their peers with Naruto still acting like he is in love with Sakura, it can leave a false impression. If the Third and the Elder Council can hide the truth about the Uchiha Massacre, two teens can easily hide they're having a relationship.

3) The 'missions' Naruto had with Team Gai were taken from the anime filler episodes, including Shippuuden Episode 184. If you have not watched the anime series, this explains why you're confused to where I had gotten these 'missions'. :)

4) The scene of Tenten wearing only pink panties and Naruto's jacket was taken off a NaruTen art at DeviantArt. It's titled "Whooops" by xoynop, and it was a request drawn for me. I thought the scene would be great to include in this fic. :)

If anyone wants to see the art, link is in my Author Profile or copy-and-paste the URL below and remove the spaces. I highly recommend checking out this art, for Tenten is quite sexy in it. XD

Xoynop . deviantart . com / art / whooops-189750552

4a) If anyone wants to see what the Naruto gang look like in the fic at they bath at the hot-springs, check out Naruto Chapter 541 cover art which there are a lot shown over at DeviantArt. Again check out the link in my Author Profile or copy-and-paste the URL below. :)

johnny182ee . deviantart . com / art / Naruto-541-Cover-211527759


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